Schools under fire! Fake Degrees Caught!

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jan 31, 2023

Simba&NalasMom said:

This comment answered every single question I had that the CBS and ABC breaking stories did not answer. Thank you so much!

That's because NRSKarenRN is the bomb. ?

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jan 31, 2023

nursego said:

If they got real permission to do tests documents then the BON is compliant too or maybe someone in the BON community involved with the schools. Something doesn't smell right. Why the time to detect this? In my state Virginia, the BON is very proactive and I have seen instances where there are issues with a school and they quickly try to shut it down or straighten it out if possible.

Florida is rather known (more widely now, haha) for approving nursing programs with very few requirements, and a lot of them are ONLY approved by the FL BON. Graduates often find it difficult to continue their education because the programs lack the typical accreditation, like regional accreditation or ACEN/CCNE.

Edited to add: so then you have things like this - https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/florida-woman-who-operated-nursing-school-accused-defrauding-students-out-93k/LNZXMLXK6NGWVCPEVWDVQGKNEA/

Line2292 · Jan 31, 2023

I know someone that completed the entire 12 nursing program somewhere else but couldn't pass the exit exam and went to one of those schools in Florida claiming they re accredited for 4 weeks and get their diploma, passed NCLEX on their 1st try. Every situation is different, not all of them bought the degrees. Some people did attend schools/ clinicals even if it's somewhere else previously. If they bought it without going to school they need to go to jail but if they went to schools the board needs to reconsider.

My opinion

adreamdeferred, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jan 31, 2023

So wait...some people actually attended classes and clinicals from these schools and some had the option to purchase their degree? I thought they were all buying them. That's going to be messed up for folks who actually put the work in at those schools listed. I was under the impression anyone with a degree from one of the listed schools paid for it without doing the work. So scary.

uniteddemclub, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2023

I'm in no position to judge anyone for obtaining a fake degree. My BSN is legit but I graduated December 2020 in the middle of a pandemic so I spent a whole semester and a half doing clinicals online which was just watching a zoom lecture and doing homework. I don't feel like I was adequately trained and I certainly graduated without knowing a damn thing. I also failed NCLEX 3x. I hardly remember anything from patho let alone all my other nursing classes. Going through an accredited nursing program just means I put in the work but it doesn't mean I'm more knowledgeable or skilled than anyone else. As a nursing student I found myself learning, testing, and then forgetting everything I learned after moving on to the next test. Passing clinical courses had more to do with whether or not the instructor happened to like you as a person and not so much whether you were doing well. I'm just saying my BSN is simply a title and it doesn't mean as much to me as it does to employers. I would've purchased a fake degree if I thought I could get away with it and it would've saved me time.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Feb 1, 2023

And now some fallout in Georgia:

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/20-practicing-georgia-nurses-obtained-licenses-with-fake-diplomas-or-transcripts-feds-say/NWVLIW6GQFDM7ETYG5C64MFRMY/

delrionurse · Feb 1, 2023

Lunah said:

And now some fallout in Georgia:

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/20-practicing-georgia-nurses-obtained-licenses-with-fake-diplomas-or-transcripts-feds-say/NWVLIW6GQFDM7ETYG5C64MFRMY/

Some of these schools operated under other names also.

Ann1130 · Feb 1, 2023

Sadly the patients pay the ultimate price. Every single graduate from that school should be investigated. This goes so deep into the core values as a person and a student not caring for the patient's lives. Imagine the damage or death because of these careless individuals. The schools made the money because there was a person willing to compromise- terrible!!

Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN · Feb 1, 2023

For those of you who didn't read the full story as reported, the schools involved were already closed or on probation while some of their employees (including a president) were cooking up this little scam. They marketed aggressively largely but not exclusively to the Haitian population in So Florida, including some who were already (real) LPNs, and gave them school applications to them with instructions on how to backdate them to a time before the school closed. Then they cooked up bogus transcripts with the related dates. The would-be nurses then filled out applications for NCLEX but left the school names blank for the scammers to fill in. Some applicants were given coaching on how to pass NCLEX; about 1/3 actually did. Each victim was charged $16,000.

Any former nsg school faculty member can tell you it's easy to remember those aides and LPNs who said, "I already know everything a nurse knows, I'm just here for the credential,” and I imagine there was some proportion of victims who fit that description. Knowing the terrible conditions in Haiti (I feel so very sorry for those poor people) I'm sure there were also people who were desperate to get better work than the service jobs they had (including as nursing aides).

The scum who preyed on them were all named and will be prosecuted for various types of fraud, as were their schools. Investigators have all the files and also know who passed NCLEX and are out there in many states working. They will not be charged, but they'll all be out of work and their futures uncertain.

SunCityInsPhysical, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2023

Where was the state board of nursing from the beginning of this fiasco? It has always been my understanding that schools must be accredited. State board dropped the ball day one.

Ann1130 · Feb 1, 2023

I disagree with the statement people are desperate for other jobs, that will excuse thieves from what they do. You have to have to draw a line- everyone needs more money and we all need a better job. You as a person have to draw the line and know the limits of what you would do for money- is like that in every area of our lives. We can do better!!

Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN · Feb 1, 2023

SunCityInsPhysical said:

Where was the state board of nursing from the beginning of this fiasco? It has always been my understanding that schools must be accredited. State board dropped the ball day one.

The FL State BON had already done what they were supposed to do, I.e., put these schools on probabtion or actually close them. The felons backdated things so it looked like the "students" were in school before the schools closed or went on probation.

The thing came to light when the "graduates" started flunking NCLEX. This gets tracked, of course, and when somebody said, "Hey, a lot of grads from (school name) are failing NCLEX," somebody else said. "But .... we closed them two years ago, what's a grad doing taking NCLEX now?" .... or some variation of this. That's when things started unraveling.